A Cavalry Escort from the Golden Sail Merchant Guild cut through the mist, slipping quietly into Newborn Town under cover of night.
Hooves struck the stone paving outside the Lord's Manor, and Caroline swung nimbly down from her horse.
Her black riding outfit hugged her waist, outlining an eye-catching curve. Beneath her trousers, her legs were straight and long, and her tall leather boots clacked against the paving stones.
The night breeze swept past, and she casually brushed aside her sweat-dampened hair, looking strikingly gallant.
Veylin was already waiting at the entrance.
"Did you bring all the materials?" He got straight to the point without a single pleasantry.
Caroline lifted her chin, displeasure in her eyes.
"Veylin, can't you at least ask how I'm doing?"
"I rode here without stopping and didn't even bring a carriage, and all you care about is your materials?"
"You'd better give me a reason that makes this worth it." Caroline stepped forward, closing in on Veylin, and pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket before slapping it against his chest. "To gather all those damned things on your list, things even the Royal Alchemy Workshop might not have in stock, I practically used the entire guild's network of contacts. Do you have any idea how long that bill is?"
"A fortune on the scale of a dragon's hoard. Is that reason enough?"
Caroline's chest rose and fell. In the end, she merely snorted and stepped past him into the manor.
She hated this look of his most of all, as though everything was under his control. Yet she could never seem to do anything about him.
Inside a laboratory on the Research Institute's third underground level.
Mia sat obediently in a chair.
Her eyes filled with anticipation as she saw Veylin enter with